Bass Gear - Page 138

Ernie Ball Music Man’s StingRay has been a time-tested model for decades, but both the four and five-string versions will be getting an update for 2018. The company made the announcement at the Winter NAMM Show. “For 2018, the StingRay4 and StingRay5 have been reimagined with new features and appointments that provide a new level of playing comfort while retaining...

Last year, Darkglass Electronics wowed NAMM-goers with the Alpha Omega. Now they’ve built upon the model with Alpha Omega Ultra, which they describe as “the most versatile bass preamplifier we’ve designed.” Just like its predecessor, the Ultra has two distinct distortion circuits that can be selected or mixed as well as a dry blend knob to retain your original signal....

This week we’re checking out a slick four-stringer by R. Low. Vaughn. Built by luthier Rob Vaughn, the bass is one of his newer models. “This particular bass is the 3rd one of that style I’ve made,” Vaughn says. “It started out as a concept for a bassist over in Britain named Alysha Moore who got the first one last...

Rickenbacker announced the return of the 4003S/5 bass at the 2018 Winter NAMM Show. The five-string bass, which has not been offered for over a decade, has been updated with a slightly wider string spacing, a Schaller 3D-5 bridge, and a new single coil pickup design. The pickup was re-engineered with two blade magnets that angle further out towards the...

Ampeg launched two new pedals at the Winter NAMM Show this year: the Liquifier Analog Chorus and Opto Comp Analog Optical Compressor. The new pedals add to their existing preamp and overdrive pedals. The Liquifier features a dual chorus circuit, which Ampeg says offers deep potential. “This isn’t your typical chorus pedal,” Ampeg Product Manager Ryan Cassady says. “The dual...

One of the cooler effects we got to check out at NAMM this year was the Fuzzrocious Pedals Octave Jawn. (Jawn is Philly slang for “thing”.) Builder Ryan Ratajski says the new digital octaver will be a drop-in mod for his pedals. “Octave Jawn is a digital octaver specifically made to track faster than many other digital octavers on the...

Ibanez is continuing to grow their Soundgear bass lineup this year with the SR870, SR875, and SR876 models. The new basses, which they describe as some of the most visually striking basses in the series, were unveiled at the Winter NAMM Show. Each of the basses is built with a mahogany body topped with flamed maple. The 870 is a...

January is always a stellar month for gear stories, thanks to the annual NAMM Show. This year is no different. While we’re still working on tons of new gear stories from the show, many appeared on No Treble in January. Here are the top 10 reader favorites. Be sure to check out all our continuing NAMM coverage too! 1. Ibanez...

Ashdown Engineering has expanded their AAA line of bass amps with the AAA EVO 120-BT, a lightweight combo that offers 120 watts of power with a 15-inch driver and a tweeter. The new model sets itself apart by featuring Bluetooth functionality that allows for streaming music to your amp. “The AAA EVO 120-BT features deep, foot switchable tube emulated overdrive...

Sadowsky Guitars unveiled a new line of basses called the MetroExpress series at the Winter NAMM Show this year. The line will be made in Japan with the company’s own preamp, pickups, strings, and hardware. “The MetroExpress is made in Japan to Roger Sadowsky’s exacting standards under the supervision of Yoshi Kikuchi,” Sadowsky writes. “Roger and Yoshi began working together...

While scrolling on Facebook, I came across the Owl Bass by Schorr Guitars and had to learn more. Its half-minimal, half-futuristic design exudes a funky style with a cool finish to boot. “Schorr Guitars is a one-person operation,” luthier Nicolai Schorr tells us. “I build instruments in Berlin, Germany based on my models – The Owl and Neptune – to...

During the Winter NAMM Show, Pigtronix introduced the Ringmaster, an analog ring modulator synth pedal that they designed to create analog harmonizer and tremolo effects to follow the notes you play. “Expanding on the “Intelligent Ring Mod” found in the original Mothership pedal, Ringmaster adds LFO and Sample + Hold modulation sources, pitch following tremolo and well as wave shaping...